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Recreational Fishing in the Midwest - Michael L.
=Sport Fishing= Sport fishing - fishing for fun - began in ancient times. Man first caught fish for food, than made sport of it. Approximately 25 million fishing licenses are sold annually in the United States, and an estimated 15 million additional anglers fish where licenses are not required, as in most saslt-water fishing areas. Every year anglers take some 500 million pounds of fish from fresh waters and about 600 million pounds from salt. Billions od dollars are spent on this very popular participation sport. In the United States, there are some 100,000 lakes and more than a million miles of streams and rivers for the freshwater fisherman and more than 90,000 miles of coastline on which the salt-water fisherman can try his luck. Most important is the immeasurable pleasure enjoyed by each of these millions of fishermen. The Midwest is no stranger to sport fishing. Residents of Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and St. Paul all have their favorite hinterlands in the north, and outdoor recreation has an overwhelming presence. There are many resorts located throughout the Midwest, especially in the Upper Great Lakes. Wisconsin has well over 1,000 resorts and can boast the invention of the outboard motor. There are many different fish located in this region, many fishing techniques, and many many fisherman. The art of sport fishing will remain as long as there are fish to catch. Fishing the Lakes and Rivers There are a variety of fish to catch in the many smaller lakes and rivers in the Midwest. One of the most common fish to be caught are members of the sunfish family. The most common ones include the Bluegill, Pumpkinseeds, Long-Eared, Rock Bass, the Smallmouth Bass, the the famous Largemouth Bass. Bluegills may be distinguished from other sunfish by the dark spot at the base of the dorsal fin and the solid black gill flap. They also have 6-8 vertical bars on their sides, and a relatively small mouth. The spiny dorsal fin usually has 10 spines and is broadly connected to the soft dorsal. The anal fin has three spines. Bluegill are found throughout the US and northern Mexico. The bluegill enjoys warm, shallow lakes with rooted vegetation. During mid-day, they go to deeper waters of shallow lakes or beneath the shade of trees or brush. An adult bluegill can reach a size of about 12 inches in length although the average is 8 inches. A good size bluegill can reach 2 pounds in size. They live an average of 4-6 years. The pumpkinseed sunfish is a very colorful, deep-bodied, slab-sided fish with a small mouth. Breast and belly are orange to yellow, with lighter colored sides in a variety of bright colors. The gill flap is black, but has an orange-red spot on the border. The pumpkinseed can be found in the northern United States, and they enjoy cool, clear, spring fed lakes, ponds, and streams. It will seek out springs and small, clear, gravelly, feeder creeks of lakes and reservoirs. The average size of the pumpkinseed is 5 to 7 inches in length and 1 pound or less in weight. The lifespan of the pumpkinseed is 8 to 10 years. Rock bass are thick, heavy bodied fish with a dark slate or olive-green color and also a bronze and coppery colored tone. The mouth is large and extends beyond the front edge of their red eyes. The original range of rock bass covered the eastern half of the United States and into southern Canada, with the exception of states along the Eastern Seaboard. The rock bass prefer clear streams and lakes of moderate size. They prefer streams with a medium level of flow. Bottom substrates with large boulders and coarse gravel are favored, or bed rock with drop-offs. A good size rock bass is about 10 inches in length and weighs 1 to 2 pounds and can live up to 13 years. bluegill-711437.jpg|Bluegill NCTC_Pumpkinseed.jpg|Pumpkinseed rockbass.gif|Rock Bass